The owner of a popular Pickard Street eatery hopes to turn his restaurant into a brew pub.

Cranker’s Coney Island already has converted its Big Rapids location, and now owner James Crank hopes to repeat the success at his Mt. Pleasant and Grand Rapids locations.

“Breweries are a very big thing right now,” Crank told members of the Mt. Pleasant Planning Commission. “It will be a great addition that the city can be proud of.”

The plan board gave its OK to a special use permit that would allow the restaurant at 1207 E. Pickard St. to operate as a so-called “class I restaurant,” which serves alcohol but focuses primarily on food. A class I restaurant must get at least half its revenue from food sales.

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“It’s a full-service restaurant,” said Jeff Gray, Mt. Pleasant’s director of planning and community development. “That change does require a special use permit.”

Crank said if the experience at his Big Rapids brew pub is any indication, more than 80 percent of the revenue will come from food. The restaurateur said he expects to sell more food.

“It’s increased our dinner business quite a bit,” Crank said. The Cranker’s Mt. Pleasant location, which now is open 24 hours, would scale back its hours to 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.

The plans call for brewing small batches of one or two craft beers on site, with other Cranker’s beers and ales being brought in from the company’s main brewery, which is located on State Street in Big Rapids.

“The only thing we have to do is make one beer on the premises,” Crank said, to comply with Michigan’s liquor laws. He’s still awaiting licensing approval from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

“We’ll probably have six beers on draft,” Crank said. That lineup, all with the Cranker’s brand, would include a seasonally changing offering of specialty beers.

Currently, his Big Rapids outlet is featuring a honey kolsch, which Crank describes as a “very light summer beer,” and a dark cherry wheat.

“We make it with fresh fruit,” Crank said. Fall will feature a specialty Oktoberfest beer.

Cranker’s Coney Island opened in Mt. Pleasant seven years ago, and Crank said he plans to update the restaurant’s décor somewhat during the conversion.

Mark Ranzenberger is online editor of TheMorningSun.com. Follow him on Twitter @ranzenberger.